Dark Rider
by Tessabe
Summary: Rannel was happy living an ordinary life, but sometimes fate has other things in store for us. Complete.
1. Default Chapter

Mercedes Lackey owns the world I'm visiting here, but the story is mine

Ch 1 The Horse fair

Once rode home

A simple man

Glad to see his family

Again.....

Rannel looked up from the instruments to the stalls other occupant. "May I " he asked. The man nodded. He carefully picked up the gittern, looking down it's length in the light. Twelve strings, he thought to himself, should give Marren a challenge to master.

"The strings are steel, the kind used in harps" the man said sensing a possible sale. Rannel looked up sharply, but kept his face impassive. He tested the strings, then fiddled with the tuning, then he launched into the beginning of My Lady's Eyes, drivel he thought to himself, but the music was pretty.

"You have a true gift" the man gushed. "It was made for you".

"It's not for me" he said. "My son needs a new instrument".

He looked again at the gittern, putting it down then looking at some of the other instruments before coming back to it.

"How much" he asked, then the bargaining began in earnest. In the end he walked out smiling the gittern slung over his shoulder and a bag with a handful of strings and a little flute for His wife Graella. He couldn't wait to see the look on their faces.

Coming back to the bustle of the busy market after the relative quiet of the Luther's stall, he shifted his purse back into his shirt. It wouldn't do to lose this years profit he thought to himself, though as a veteran of the Harvest fair most of his earnings were safely installed in his money belt.

As he walked a wandering path through the fair to his inn, he came to the horse seller's section of the fair. This year the Shin'a'in had brought some of their horses, they didn't come every year and he wanted a look at their horses, it was time perhaps time for him to replace his old horse Grey, he grinned thinking he could give Grey to Marren. He had been asking him for a horse of his own.

He frowned remembering his father saying that he spoiled his son, just because he saw nothing wrong in fostering his dreams. At least his son would have the chance to be a Bard, if that was what he wished. Every year he had been putting away a part of each years profits so that he could send his son to the school of his choice when he was old enough, though at five that would be a few years from now.

When he reached the fence enclosing the herd of horses to be sold, he stopped, watching intently as the Shin'a'in herder put them through their paces. He saw one, an odd black and grey beast shy away from the edge of the other horses, strange coloring aside, he liked the lines of the horse. He waved to the partner of the man running the horses. He walked over to him. "What's the price on that one" he asked pointing to the horse.

They bargained easily, both veterans of the trade. Finally for a price a little higher than he would have liked, the horse was his. After another bargaining session he also picked up two other mares, One a red gold with a darker mane and tail and the other a dull silver grey shading to black. After he paid for them, he gave the man the directions to his inn. The three would be delivered later this afternoon.

Then all he had to do was go to the Mercenary's guild to deposit this years profit. He had joined eight years ago, when he was eighteen, planning to become a mercenary, then his father had found out and he stopped him.. Not long after that he met and married Graella then settled down to breed cattle and horses.

He had kept up his membership though, not even his family knew of it. It was convenient to have a place to bank his profits, at least that's what he kept telling himself. As far as anyone else knew, he hid the money somewhere on his property..

It was ironic he thought to himself, the black and grey horse he bought today looked to have real potential as a warhorse. That thought made him wonder if he should start a line with that in mind.

He left the guild, his belt much lighter, and continued on to his inn.

At the door of the inn he put all such thoughts aside and breathed deeply, suddenly he was starving, a good bargaining session will do that he thought to himself.

When he entered he waved for a server and asked for a cider, stew and maybe some of their bread. He grinned slightly, he never drank away from home, and especially when he was carrying any amount of coin.

After eating Rannel went up to his room to drop off his purchases. Then went down to the stables to see if the horses had been delivered.


	2. Chapter 2 A Homecoming

Ch 2 A Homecoming

But fate had not

This plan for him

There was no one there

To welcome him.....

Rannel stretched in his saddle, weary to the bone, he had really pushed it the last few days to get home to his family. He turned and looked back to see how grey was doing. The poor beast was having trouble keeping up with the others. He was truly glad to have found Shadow, his new mare.

She was smooth gaited and spirited enough to be a joy to ride. He was starting to wonder why she was a cull, their loss he thought to himself.

He looked ahead at the turnoff for his land, frowning, he wondered what was wrong. One of the men should have been posted waiting to send word of his return.

He only grew more uneasy, the farther he went up the road, there were always a few cattle by the fence near the road, with a stream so close by, the grass was always lush and thick even in the heat of late summer.

Only because he was looking so closely did he see a series of odd lumps in the pasture up the road. He urged the horses closer, but they started to become uneasy. Stopping he tied them to the fence and climbed over, running up to the nearest, the stench suddenly hit him.

It was the carcass of one of his cattle, it had been sitting out in the open long enough, that he wasn't able to tell what had killed it. Holding the edge of his shirt over his mouth he walked on to the next two. These had been butchered, badly butchered, whoever had done it was extremely wasteful, leaving a lot of the meat behind.

Rannel didn't know what to think, if someone killed some of his cattle, his men would have at least cleared them from the fields. At least now he knew why none of the cattle were anywhere near the road.

He quickly ran back to the horses leading them past that point on the road, once past they calmed down and he remounted, making better time. By this time he had forgotten his weariness and was starting to get cold chills down his spine, even so, he didn't rush in.

Before he came within sight of his house, he opened one of the side gates and led his horses to a stand of trees where he tied them loosely, if he didn't come back they would eventually get loose. Then he remounted Shadow and rode back to the road, refastening the gate behind him.

Now he knew something was wrong, not that he didn't before he thought to himself,

No smoke rose from the chimney and the dogs should have come barking at once, after smelling a strange horse. Now there was only silence, he saw the first of the dogs, laying across the path between the barn and the stables. He didn't even hear the sounds of his horses.

Dismounting quickly, he tied Shadow to the fence surrounding the kitchen garden and slowly went inside, all his senses on alert. When he smelled the stench of death in here as well, he dropped his caution, running through the house he called desperately for Marren and Graella, but there was no answer. Finally in the pantry he found them, Marren's small hand reaching out from underneath Graella's body.

He fell to his knee's and stared blankly, for a moment feeling nothing until the despair and anguish welled up and he screamed pounding the wood of the door beside him.

When he came to himself again, he pushed back his pain, his growing anger, and the weariness that had returned with a vengeance. Vengeance, now that's a word, he thought to himself.

Forcing himself not to see who he was touching, he gently lifted his wifes body and rolled her over, she looked to have been dead for a several days but, because they hadn't been outside, he was able to tell that they had been stabbed with a large knife or a sword. He touched her face with a shaking hand then pulled himself up and walked out through the back door to his tool shed.

Whoever had done this wasn't interested in taking any of his tools, though it looked like they had been looking for something. He pulled a shovel from the pile of tools and walked past the garden to the large tree near the stables. Pulling off his tunic and undershirt, he started to dig, tears still running down his face.

It was early evening before he was done, one grave, they would be together. Rannel staggered back to the house. Sheets he remembered dully. He found some clean sheets in the linen closet and brought them back to his wife and child, wrapping them together securely and tying the whole.

He couldn't have borne seeing the dirt covering their faces. Suddenly his strength deserted him, he would have to finish tomorrow. He went to the well in the back yard with a bar of soap and washed the stink off himself, he wouldn't have cared, but he knew Shadow wasn't used to the scent of death and he had to handle her and the others.

It was when he was leading grey into the stables that he found the first of his missing men, Jadreth he thought dully, he backed up and came around from the other side, leading grey into the nearest stall, he brushed him down and gave him a ration of grain and water., He did the same with the other three before walking back to Jadreth.

The man's arms were gashed as, if he had been cut when his arms were held in front of him. I can't deal with this tonight, he thought to himself. Pulling himself together he grabbed the man's feet and pulled him back out the stable door. At least, I let most of the seasonal worker's go for the winter he thought. There were only four more men to find, four more graves to dig.

There was no way that he would be staying in the house tonight, not with his family waiting in the pantry. He grabbed his packs and opened one of the stalls, near the horses. Piling the hay in one corner, he pulled out a blanket and rolled up, exhaustion taking it's toll, he was asleep within minutes.

The next morning he awoke, for one sweet moment he didn't know where he was, then the memory of the last day came back to him. Anger kept him warm in the chill morning air. They would pay, he thought to himself. He checked the horses, then forced himself to eat some of the journey bread he pulled from his packs. If he got sick he would never find them.

He decided to see if he could find the other four men, it took most of the morning but he found them, the last one in the house a bloodied butcher knife in one hand. He touched the man's shoulder gently and closed his eyes. Then he looked at the knife, it was bloodied halfway to the handle, a surge of intense satisfaction filled him. Nevil got one of the bastards.

He carefully dug the graves laying his wife and child in last, the five men surrounding them in their last sleep. Taking some boards from the shed, he marked each grave, his brothers would eventually carve stone markers for them.

Afterwards he cleaned up and washed himself off at the well again. Then he made his way to the little stone shed at the back of the barn.


	3. Chapter 3 A Favor to Ask

Ch 3 A Favor to Ask

Look for the dark rider

A shadow at his back

Music dark within his soul

And vengence to be had .....

He smiled grimly when he saw they hadn't even tried to break the lock on the door, most of his men had assumed that was where he kept the odd bits of metal used to make horse shoes and the like, in fact most of the shed was devoted to that very purpose, but in the back behind a false wall he kept his dreams.

He pulled the key chain from around his neck and opened the first lock. The door screeched on its rusty hinges as he pulled it open, that was another of his security measures, as loud as the door was, someone would have heard it being opened.

Inside he pulled out a candle from the bag hanging by the door, he struck a spark and lit it. Setting it in it's own melted wax, on the stone bench that lined half the back wall he, felt under the bench for the release. There, he felt it and pulled. The hidden compartment opened and he was looking at another door of nicely dressed stone.

He put his second key in the lock, turning it to the right until he heard the click, removing the key he pushed the door sliding it towards the side with the bench.

Just inside the door there was a small shelf holding several small lamps, taking one he lifted the glass shade and lit it with the candle before blowing that out, then replacing the shade, he started down the steep stairs leading to his secret chamber.

The light made the shadows dance wildly on the stone walls, one spiral down and he was there. He was under the barn, rather than the shed now. He was lucky his brother Gedren was a genius with stone, and fascinated with hidden chambers. He had jumped at the chance to make this place for Rannel, when he was starting the farm.

The Armor and weapon's his father had forced him to put aside lined the walls, small wooden chests against the walls under them. He took his time picking out what he would need, then he started carrying everything up the stair and into the stable.

He laid out the leather bag that he used to pack the extra arrowheads for his bow. Then he pulled the bow out checking it for wear, he strung it and pulled back at the string, it was sound. Unstringing it, he put it back in it's weatherproof bag. The chain mail and armor he put aside, adding extra links to the arrowhead bag.

Then he unsheathed his sword, checking it carefully for any signs of rust. None, he thought grimly to himself, the weaponsmaster who had taught him and his brothers had made sure they knew how to care for their weapon's. He also checked the knives. Everything was in order.

Then leaving the weapon's where they were he returned to the shed. He put out and returned the lamp to it's shelf and closed and locked all doors, carrying his last bag from the hidden room. The key, hidden again, around his neck on it's chain.

When he got back to the stable he opened the last bag and pulled out the clothing it contained, dark colors, should be good for the road he thought to himself.

He pulled out his packs, removing everything, the dirty clothing he put aside and began to repack as tightly as he could. When he came to the gittern, he froze, slowly he pulled it out of it's case, he stared at it an moment and his hand slowly closed on its neck, then he forced his hand open, it's all I have left he thought to himself.

He repacked it quickly and added it to what he was taking, he also threw in the bag with the strings and flute. He grabbed his chain mail and a set of clothing from the bag he had brought from the shed. At the well, he washed again and got dressed, then he braided back hair that was just long enough and put on his helmet, it was one fashioned after the Shin'a'in's style, back then, when he had gotten it, he had wanted to be able to see, to use his bow.

He walked quickly back to the stable and up to Greys stall, taking his lead he brought him out and walked to one of the pasture gates, once inside he slapped his flank. As the startled horse jumped and ran he said "Sorry old friend, you can't come with me this journey". Then he took Flame, the red mare and did the same, he would Mist, the grey as a packhorse.

Once packed it didn't take him long to be on his way. He wasn't looking forward to the next leg of his journey, but he had to do it before he could begin the hunt.

It was almost dark when he made it to his brother's house. Being a sculptor of stone he had a house in Denscorner, a small town at the crossroads of two fairly well traveled trade routes. When he answered the door Gedrun took one look at his brother's clothing and haggard face and asked "What's happened".

Rannel closed his eyes before answering "They're all dead".

"Who" he asked.

"Everyone, Graella, Marren, and all five of my men" He shook his head.

"How" his brother asked.

"Somebody came in and killed them all" as he said this his voice and eyes hardened from the lost tone he had started with.

"Who would do such a thing" his brother said a shocked note in his voice.

"I don't know yet, but they are dead men" he said a mad light burning in his eyes.

Gedrun had never seen his brother like this, usually his brother was a laid back kind of man, always ready with a laugh or joke. "I need a favor" Rannel said, bringing him back to the present.

"Anything" he said seriously.

"I need you to watch over my land" he said.

"But..." Gedrun started to say before Rannel interrupted.

"I don't know what they left, the animals have to be taken care of, and....." he hesitated, then added. "I can't go back there, all I see is my family, the way I found them" he broke off and looked off into space willing the tears that threatened to go away. Under control he turned back to his brother "You don't have to worry I buried them and cleaned up".

"Gods" Gedrun groaned, appalled at what his brother had gone through. He grabbed his brother's shoulders and pulled him in the door.

"I can't stay" Rannel protested.

"At least stay the night, you won't be able to see to trail them tonight anyway" Gedrun said.

Rannel nodded tiredly "I need to take care of the horses" he said pointing to the two he had tied to his brother's gate.

"Don't worry I'll get them, just sit" he said pushing his brother in the door.

The next morning, Gedrun had his affairs in order, he arraigned for his tools and things to be brought to his brother's place, but made sure he could ride back with Rannel himself to the farm where Rannel would start his hunt. He also arraigned for a few men he knew and trusted to meet him there. He warned them of the danger, they would be well armed and ready.


	4. Chapter 4 Hunting Time

Ch 4 Hunting Time

Silence his companion

Wicked in his wrath

He'll catch you all someday

And you'll pay

For your dark past

Once they returned to Rannel's farm, he said goodbye to his brother. He didn't have to worry about the locked doors, All of his brothers had been given keys in the past, though only Gedrun knew about the hidden chamber.

He only stayed long enough for the men to round up his herd of horses, he wanted to see which were missing, it would make it easier if he knew the beasts he was tracking. There were about a dozen missing, some of his best broodmares. Then he started, combing the perimeter of his land for any sign of the horses. It was on the north side that he found the first signs. Careless, he thought to himself, they had left the gate ajar, not enough that any of the cattle would have noticed and escaped, but he could see.

He dismounted and examined the ground, grateful that the huntsman on his father's estate had taught him to track as a boy. He had always been looking for new skills, and made sure to keep them up. He used to play tracking games with Marren. He stopped as the wave of anguish hit him at the thought. He stood shaking for a moment before he was able to remount.

He had the trail now, he knew he was going to have to learn more control, if he lost it when he found them, it wouldn't be good, he thought grimly.

The trail wound around to the west before he found their first campsite. He tied Shadow and Mist to a tree well away from the camp and went over it carefully, he needed to know as much as he could about the enemy.

He shook his head in disgust as he looked over the camp, What a bunch of pigs, he thought to himself, garbage was strewn across the camp, here and there he found things that had come from his farm, they must have been going through the booty.

His breath hissed through his teeth when he saw one of the items, he carefully picked up the bronze necklace, whoever had thrown it had picked out the stone. He gently cradled it to his chest, his hand tightening slowly. He had given it to Graella for their first anniversary, she never took it off.

Roughly he put it in his pouch, and continued the search. He froze when he saw one of the footprints in the dried mud, he knew that print, it was Farnam, one of the hands he had hired this last season. I have you, a surge of pure joy shot through him.

Soon he was able to tell that there were about fifteen of them, he wasn't sure, but two looked to be injured. One definitely was, even if he hadn't seen the bloody knife, the way the prints looked, with one deeper than the other, he could tell the man was limping.

And he could see the remnants of one of his sheets torn, and in a nearby bush, a bloodied rag, that must have been a previous bandage. He wished the trail had been fresher, but he had to take the time to get his brother, before going on the trail.

He sighed and went back to his horses.

Over the next two days the signs were getting fresher, then what he feared happened, they split up with ten heading north, and the other five heading towards the trade road.

He ended up following the smaller group, Farnam was with them, he would make him tell who the others were. Once on the trade road he had to stop at every town and tavern to ask about his quarry, it slowed him down so it was nearly two weeks before he found the first sign of them.

"Friends of yours" the server asked when he mentioned Farnam and his companions.

"No, they owe me" he said softly.

"Not surprised" the girl said. "They snuck out without paying their bill, stiffed Maressa too" she added.

"Could you describe the four with Farnam" he asked.

"I'm not sure" she said slowly, looking at him hopefully.

"Maybe this will help" he said slipping her a coin.

She nodded and the coin disappeared quickly. "One's tall, looks like a scarecrow, he even has hair that looks like straw, Two of the others could be twins, dark hair, almost black, like yours" she said looking up. "They had grey eyes though, the fourth man had red hair and green eyes, that one had a bad limp" she said thoughtfully.

He nodded "My thanks, do you know when they left town" he asked.

"Two days ago, I think they were going to join a caravan as guards" she said. "I hope that helps, you'll make them pay" she asked.

"They'll pay" he said, she shivered at the look in his eyes.

It took three days to catch up to the men, he had taken a wrong turn on the road and had to backtrack, by the time he found them, they had already joined the caravan.

It was a large one, and the guards were diligent, an armed man riding up to the caravan had them on alert, and they stopped him before he got too far.

"What's your business" the guard asked him, others stayed close watching him carefully.

"I need to talk to your master" Rannel said carefully.

"Why should we bother him, we're not looking to hire anymore guards" the man said.

"I'm not looking for work" he said.

"Then what are you looking for" the guard asked.

Rannel sighed, he knew he wasn't going to get anywhere unless he gave the man more information, though he wasn't giving his name if he could help it, he didn't want his quarry to have any warning."There's a chance your harboring some men who are thieves and murderers".

The man shook his head, but Rannel continued "I've tracked them this far, in Parcen, I was told they were planning to join a caravan as guards".

"How do you know it's this one" he asked.

"Do you want to take a chance" Rannel asked him. "They have gotten hired in the past and come back to attack after they've gotten the information they needed" he said grimly.

"You'd better come with me, you can leave your horses with Gremmal" he said, Turning he looked at the others. "Talk to no one, if they're here we don't want to warn them". The other men nodded. And Rannel dismounted giving his reins to the man.

He followed the guard, only stiffening once when he saw a man who could have been one of those the barmaid had described.

Soon they came to a tent a little larger than the others "Master Geren" he called out.

A man poked his head out the tents flap, Rannel recognized him, he had traveled with him in the past. "Rannel" he asked doubtfully, not sure that this grim stranger was the same man he had traded jokes with two years ago.

"Yes" Rannel said. "It's me".

"What's wrong" he asked.

"Maybe we should sit, this might take awhile and I don't want to stay in the open, where I might be seen" he said.

He nodded and waved Rannel into the tent.

"You know I take an annual trip to the Fenscrossing horse fair"he asked Geren.

"Yes, you've gone with my caravan there in the past" he said.

"This year, when I arrived home, everyone was dead, my family, my men and some of my cattle" he swallowed hard before continuing. I was able to determine that about fifteen men were involved. At least two were injured. They took twelve of my best broodmares. They split up several days ago. I was able to track the smaller group to Parcen, where I was told they had left looking for work at a caravan." he paused.

Geren had stayed quiet while he had talked "Can you describe these men" he asked.

He nodded "One's named Farnam, he's short, brown hair and dark eyes, almost black. One's tall, I've heard him described as a scarecrow" he said.

"I know them" Geren said nodding. "Go on" he said to Rannel.

"There are two that looked related they had dark hair and grey eyes, the last one has red hair and a limp, maybe a bad knife wound".he finished.

"Yes, a group can in and joined as guards yesterday, I wasn't sure about Bert, the red haired fellow, but the other's said he was fine". He frowned then added "You said they have gotten themselves hired to get information before attacking" he asked Rannel.

"Yes, Farnam worked for me this last summer, I thought he was lazy and wondered why he chose to work for me, but he did work if you pushed him" he said.

Geren turned to the guard who had been listening "Get me fifteen good men, but quietly, we don't want to alert them". The guard nodded and left. Geren turned back to him "I'm sorry for your loss, Graella was a lovely woman and I'm honored to have known her" he said gravely.

Rannel swallowed hard, but kept in control "She spoke kindly of you" he said.

When the men came they were told who they were to take prisoner, it went much more smoothly than Rannel could have hoped for. Soon the five were tied and marched into the caravan master's tent.

Farnam's eyes widened when he saw Rannel standing at the side of Geren, his helmet under one arm.

"You" he whispered.

"Yes, me" Rannel answered his eyes holding his, a cold anger in their depths.

Farnam swallowed, his blood turned to ice, he glanced wildly around looking for escape, but there was none.

"You're just a farmer" he said quickly "you can't do anything to me".

"Did I ever mention my father's name to you" Rannel asked.

"No" Farnam whispered.

"Perhaps you've heard of Lord Marren" he asked the man.

Farnam started shaking.

"If not, you will, you've killed his grandson".

After that the questioning went quickly, he found out where the other men were headed, near a small town halfway to Valdemar named Timmersdale. When the men had been led away Rannel made arrangements for the men to be sent to his father, and the three horses that were his to be sent back to Gedrun.

"Please at least stay the night before you go" Geren asked.

Rannel nodded "Very well, one day won't matter".

"I want to replenish your trail rations too" he waved off Rannel's objections. "It's the least I can do, I can't leave the caravan or give you any of my men, especially now that five of them are gone".

He nodded.

The next morning Rannel felt better for the rest, he packed and was ready to leave, when one of the guards came in as he and Geren were eating breakfast.

"Jethric's gone" he said to Master Geren.

"Jethric" he asked, then he remembered, Jethric was the one that had recommended they hire the five men "Damn" he said.

"What is it" Rannel asked.

"I think we missed one" he said.

"I only tracked five here" Rannel said.

"Jethric was here already, he was someone I had hired before, it was on his bond that we hired the others". Geren said.

"What does he look like I need a good description" Rannel sighed, now the man had a good start, there was a good chance that he would warn the other's.

"He's an average looking man, but he had a large gold ring he's very proud of".

"Aye" the guard said. "I've seen the ring, it's got a large red gem on it, and a strange design on the side".

"Thanks" Rannel said. "I need to leave as soon as possible, he's gotten a head start".

Master Geren nodded "May the Gods be with you" he said as they walked to the horses.


	5. Chapter 5 A Song to Remember

Ch 5 A Song to Remember

Justice this time

It's having

Though the trail

Be cold, it's true

Go look for the lone rider

Next time his prey is too.....

This time because he knew where he was going, he made much better time, often he struck out cross country, forgoing the roads completely, he was lucky his horses were fresh come, from the Dorisha plains. It didn't bother them to make many miles a day.

He was about halfway to his goal when he decided to stop at a town he had visited before. His supplies were getting low and he needed to restock.

The town of Ghedsford had an outpost of the mercenary's guild there, he decided to stop the night and withdraw some of his funds. The outpost was small, he had heard that the only reason it was here at all was that it was located near the major trade route heading up to Valdemar, while the Valdemarans weren't known for hiring mercenaries, the Caravans were always looking for guards. He tethered his horses at the railing in front of the building and walked inside.

It appeared to be a standard setup, the main room open, a desk to one side for guild business, though being small, there were no rooms for out of work mercenaries to stay, he would have to go to the Inn, no hardship, he thought to himself.

The man at the desk looked up "May I help you" he asked.

"I'm here to access some of my funds and to hire someone myself" he said as he crossed the room and sat in one of the chairs near the desk.

"Well, I can help with the funds, but you are out of luck if you're hoping to hire someone, a large caravan heading south came through a week ago and hired everyone who was waiting here for work". He said, a rueful look on his face.

Rannel frowned, well, there were at least two other towns with outposts between here and his destination, there was still time.

"If I may ask, what would a mercenary be doing hiring other's" he asked curious.

"It's personal, some brigands attacked and killed my family, I've tracked down five of them, but there are at least eleven more to deal with, perhaps more, I'm not a fool, if I can get some help to deal with them, I'd pay well" he said.

The man nodded "I hope you can find that help, between the dust up of bandits near Karse and the increased trade to Valdemar, it's hard to find men, these parts" he said sympathetically.

Once he got his funds and had put them in his money belt he went outside and took his horses leading them down the lane that passed for main street in this town.

very soon he came to the Inn, as small as the town was there were only about a dozen buildings on the main street, the Inn being three down from the guild's outpost.

Good, he thought to himself, they were big enough for stables and to have private rooms, it was probably due to their vicinity to the trade route and the guilds hiring hall.

A boy took his horses and a couple of older boys took his packs, he grabbed his gittern, when he saw their lack of care in their handling of his things, most of his belongings could take it, but he had become fond of the gittern, sometime he felt closer to his son when he played it imagining him playing it one day.

He swung it's strap over his shoulder and went inside to make arrangements with the Innkeeper for the night's lodging.

Gerril looked up from his soft playing at the stranger's entrance, he sighed when he saw the instrument the man carried on his shoulder, great the thought to himself, that's all I need, competition. When he looked closer he started to wonder at his first impression, he was always watching people and had developed a good nose for a story and he sensed a Story with a capital S. Maybe there was a song in this, he would have to get him to open up.

The man wore light armor, if it hadn't been for the gittern on his shoulder, he would have looked like any mercenary looking for work, but playing a gittern took a degree of skill most mercenaries wouldn't have. It was hard to tell what color hair he had under the dust that coated everything he wore, he had been on the road a long time without stopping, but it was the look in his golden eyes that grabbed Gerril's attention. He could see a soul deep sadness and glowing in their depths a cold anger, barely hidden.

The man looked up once in his direction, his eyes closing in a look of pain quickly masked before he turned back to the Innkeeper. Finally their bargaining done he followed the innkeeper's pointing finger and walked out the back door, perhaps to the bathhouse.

Rannel lay back in the hot water soaking for a time, though he had toughened up this trip he still wasn't entirely used to riding so much, the warm water loosened tight muscles and he relaxed almost napping. He came alert instantly when the man entered the room "Don't touch the armor, I'll be cleaning it myself later".

That's fine" Gerril said "I wasn't planning on cleaning it anyway".

Rannel recognized him, the musician from the main room, he ducked his head under the water and started scrubbing himself clean, anything not to look, his son may have looked like this in the future years, if only.....

He hear the sound of water pouring into the neighboring tub, great he wasn't leaving.

"What are you doing in Ghedsford anyway, the hiring season's almost over unless you're a bard" he asked .

Rannel looked up in time to see him pointing towards the gittern sitting propped up on the far wall, well away from any water.

"No, I'm no bard, I just play for enjoyment" he said, closing his eyes again and rinsing the soap from his hair.

"In that case perhaps you'd like to join me tonight when I play, I think the people here are starting to get tired of just me, they'd like something new to listen to" he said.

"Maybe" Rannel said. He stood up, he was clean enough, stepping out he grabbed a towel and rubbed briskly drying himself quickly. He looked at his filthy clothes in disgust, holding his shirt at arm's length he sniffed, now that he was clean there was no way he was putting these on again.

He heard a chuckle from the other tub "I can tell them to have those cleaned, they have that service here, if you want any of your other clothes cleaned, they have baskets in the rooms, just put the dirty clothes in and they come back cleaned and folded, for a fee of course".

"Of course" Rannel said dryly "In the meantime how am I going to get to my room" he asked.

"Just wrap on of those around your middle and take the back stair" he said pointing towards the pile of extra large towels in the bench across the room.

"I don't know which room is mine I just arrived a few minutes ago" he said "All I could think of was washing the dust off, I hadn't thought much beyond that" he said ruefully.

"That is a problem, you could ask one of the servers, perhaps they'd like to show you personally" he said, another meaning clear in his tone.

"No, I don't think so" Rannel said embarrassed.

"they aren't all female you know" he said a spark of devilment in his eyes.

"No, I like women" he said quickly.

"Then why" Gerril asked.

"It's too soon" he bowed his head fighting off the wave of anguish that rose at this reminder. He looked up eyes bright with unshed tears. "My wife was killed recently and I loved her very much" he grabbed his armor and gittern leaving the pile of dirty clothes behind, with a towel wrapped around his waist and held with one hand and the other holding up his bundle he left not looking back once.

"I'm sorry" Gerril said to his retreating back, but he wasn't sure the other man heard him.

Rannel knew he had overreacted the other man had only been teasing, he sighed, it seemed that these days he had no sense of humor. He didn't think he ever would again, not even when he finished with the men he was hunting.

That night Gerril looked for the stranger in the crowd, it wasn't until maybe a candlemark later that he saw him making his way for a corner table and waving for a server. Gerril finished his set and walked over to him. Rannel looked up as the musician sat in the chair across from him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I'd like to start over, my names Gerril" he said.

"I overreacted, don't worry about it" Rannel said, "My names Rannel".

Gerril looked at Rannel's cup "What are you having".

"Cider, I always drink light away from home and now..." he trailed off.

"And now" Gerril prompted.

"I need to keep sharp" he stared into his cup for a moment before sipping from it.

"Why" Gerril asked.

"I'm looking for some men, ones who don't want to be found, recently they've learned I'm looking for them" he sighed wondering if he really had time to stay the night here.

"Why are you looking for them" Gerril asked hoping the other man would tell him, maybe this was the story he was looking for.

"They killed my family" he said softly, almost too softly for Gerril to hear in the noisy Inn. He looked up then ans Gerril saw the banked anger in his eyes glow a little hotter.

"I've already gotten five of them,.they are on their way to Lord Marren's justice" he said a little louder.

Gerrin's jerked surprised, he had heard of lord Marren, he was a hard man, but he was known not to bother in outsider's affairs. "Why would he care about your family" Gerril asked.

"Lord Marren's my father and when they killed my son, they killed his grandson"he said.

"I hadn't heard that he had a son named Rannel" Gerril said.

Rannel laughed sadly "I was a disappointment to him, as second son he wanted me to live as he wanted, and it didn't work out, The woman I married wasn't one he would have chosen".

"Then how could you marry her" Gerril asked, what he knew of the noble families, Rannel's father could have kept him from marrying someone he found unsuitable.

"It was a bribe of sorts" Rannel said picking up his mug. "I would have left to become a mercenary if he hadn't let me marry her". He put his mug down and looked out into the room. "The funny thing is, I almost wished he hadn't let me marry, Graella may still have been alive if he hadn't".

"You don't know that" Gerril said softly.

"No" Rannel said.

He turned suddenly and reached down picking up his gittern, he opened the case and pulled it out, as he tunned it Gerril looked at it closely, he sighed it was a beautiful instrument.

Rannel looked up and caught the look in his eyes, he smiled and said "This was the last thing I bought for my son, he wanted to be a bard" a shadow of his grief passed quickly across his face and was gone, almost before Gerril took note of it.

"So, what do you want to play" he asked his fellow musician, getting up to play.

The next morning he was going over his horses tack preparing to leave when he saw Gerril standing to the side with a pack of his own. "Where are you headed" Gerril asked.

"Timmersdale" he said.

"Sounds good, I'll come with you"he said to Rannel.

"You can't come with me, it's going to be dangerous" Rannel said, he didn't need someone he had to watch out for, he needed all his attention on his own back.

"I can take care of myself, besides you could probably use a guide, I was born in those parts" Gerril said, a little smugly.

"Why would you want to help me" Rannel asked.

"It's a good story, I could get a song from this" he said.

Rannel groaned "That's all I need, to hear my name from one end of Rethwellen to the other".

Gerril grinned, he should be so lucky "Don't worry, I won't put your name in it".

"You promise" he asked the bard.

"Yes" Gerril said.

"Then you can come" Rannel said.

Gerril smiled and went to get his horse.


	6. Chapter 6 A Quarry to Catch

**I was originally going to end this in six chapters, but since someone seemed interested I decided to make it seven. When I did the next verse I got a good idea for the ending so I'm glad I decided to do that. Enjoy!**

Ch 6 A Quarry to Catch

Ware for the dark rider

If your conscience

Be not clean

Next time he is a hunting

His prey could next be

Thee.....

Rannel rode his horse silently most of the day. Gerril had tried several times to talk to him, but the one word answers weren't enough to keep a conversation open. He sighed, he supposed that he was lucky to have talked Rannel into letting him come along.

As darkness fell, Gerril tried again "Don't you think we should try to find a campsite soon, if we wait too long it'll be full dark".

Rannel started in his saddle and looked at Gerril as if he had forgotten he was there.

He nodded and looked back at the other man "Sorry, I have a lot on my mind".

"I understand" Gerril said.

It didn't take long to find a likely campsite. They found one within sight of the road. The small stream nearby was almost hidden, but reading the roadsign it was easy to find.

It was clear that the caravans used this site, they found some fire pits and firewood stacked under a slanted roof to keep it dry. It looked to be something the caravan masters had put together over time, there were many such sites scattered along the routes in Rethwellen, though most weren't as easy to find.

At the fire Rannel pulled out the meat pies he had brought from the Inn. Handing one to Gerril, he set his near the fire to warm before removing the tack from the horses and brushing them down. Gerril looked up to see Rannel staking his horse with the others before returning to the fire pit. "We'll have to put the fire out before going to sleep, I don't like sleeping at a caravan campsite" Rannel said.

"Why" Gerril asked.

"We're here by ourselves, there are those who follow the routes, they would consider two men easy pickings. I'll be taking first watch tonight" he said before biting into his meat pie.

"What did you do when you were by yourself" Gerril asked, curious.

"I didn't use the sites and I set up traps to warn of someones approach" he said watching the flames dance in the pit. "sometimes" he said after a time. "There would be a caravan staying at a site, if they knew me they would welcome another sword for the night, if not I found my own camp".

He looked up at Gerril "Sometimes the gittern found me welcome, they always welcomed music"

"Did you mind playing" Gerril asked softly.

"At first, but it became easier over time, I seemed to be closer to my family at those times" He said.

The next two days went quickly, towards the end of the third day they caught up with another caravan, perhaps the one that had hired all the fighters in Ghedsford.

The guards were alert. Rannel approved though it made things a little harder for him. When they neared the campsite, two of the guards came to confront them.

"What's yore bizness" the first of the two said. He was a large man, his red hair tied back at his neck. He eyed them suspiciously.

"Hunting Bandits" Rannel said.

"Got nothin against that, but why" the guard asked.

"These particular bandits killed my family" he said.

The guard nodded "They near here" he asked.

Rannel shook his head "Up near Timmersdale" he said.

The guard looked relieved, then he noticed the instruments the two men were carrying "You play" he asked pointing.

"He's a bard, and I play as well" Rannel said nodding in Gerril's direction.

"Ye be welcome then, Feren will show you yer place" he said.

"Follow me" the other man said.

After setting up camp for the night Rannel joined the other men at the fire, he carried his gittern and the bag that contained the strings and flute. He also carried a rabbit to add their share to the pot.

After eating Gerril asked "So what did you have in mind" he asked the men.

"How bout My Lady's eyes" one of the men said. Some of the other's laughed at him. He held up his hand " reminds me of Mya, tis her favorite tune" he said in his defense.

Rannel sighed and tuned the gittern "I'll play if you sing" he said to Gerril.

"Aw, you took the fun part" he said.

Rannel grinned, then launched into the beginning of the song.

After the next few songs Gerrin shook his hand out to loosen his hand.

"Let me" Rannel said. He pulled out the case for the flute. As he put the parts together Gerril watched fascinated, he had heard about these new flutes but he had never seen one.

They were supposed to come from Valdemar and were still fairly rare here in Rethwellen. He wondered where Rannel had found it.

Rannel put it to his lips and blew a few notes. Then he launched into a haunting song Gerril had never heard before. The men became silent caught in the spell of the beautiful music.

Gerril stilled, there, he felt the faintest stirrings of the bardic gift. He stared at Rannel in surprise, he had heard him play before but he hadn't known. As he listened he realized the gift wasn't strong enough that he would have been picked as a bard for it. And he had the feeling it only showed up when Rannel was feeling strong emotions. It made him wonder about the music.

That night when they were laying wrapped in their blankets he asked "Rannel, what was that music".

"It was something my wife wrote" he said softly. He was quiet for a time and Gerril wondered if he slept, then he added. "She had been a bard, it's how we met. She was playing in my father's hall".

"A bard" Gerrin asked.

"Yes, my father wasn't thrilled with the match. If she had a drop of noble blood, perhaps he would have felt differently" he said.

The next morning they parted from the caravan, only having three horses they would make much better time on their own. It took another day to reach the next town Rannel was aiming for. Unfortunately there were few mercenaries at the hall looking for work and none looked trustworthy enough to hire. Rannel sighed he had one more town before he would be reduced to taking the men on by himself.

It could be done, but it would take longer and the risk was much greater. He didn't particularly care if he made it through this alive, but he intended to take them all out before he was done.

On the third day after that they rode into the outskirts of Neddal, the last town on his list before they reached Timmersdale.

He left Gerril with the horses, if no men were to be found he wanted to be on his way without stopping. He came to a stop near the desk of the guildsmember in charge of this post, he was talking to what looked to be a merchant from his dress. "But they are stealing us blind, they think nothing of walking into town and taking what they want, bold as you please" the man said a long suffering look on his face.

"What about your constable" the guildsman asked.

"They killed him a couple of months ago, since then it's been intolerable" he said with a sour look.

The other merchants sent me to hire men to root them out of their bolt hole" he said.

The guildsman shrugged "I'm sorry I can't help, we don't have any men here for you. The time of year's all wrong".

"Where's your town" Rannel asked him softly.

The merchant started, he hadn't heard him come in. "Timmersdale" the man said.

"Maybe I can help you" Rannel said looking up.

"You're just one man" the merchant said, though hope was starting to show on his face.

"Sometimes that's all you need. After all, if I fail you haven't lost anything" he showed the guildsman his badge and the hire was recorded and signed. Now he was locked into his course as if he hadn't been before.

"My names Dherick, I'm staying at the Golden crown" the man said.

Do you know where the bandits are living" he asked.

The merchant nodded. "Good you can tell me tonight, we'll leave in the morning. I want to know everything you can tell me about them and there are a few things I'll need to get here to prepare".

As they walked out the door Gerril looked up from brushing his horses neck. When he saw the two men, one obviously not a mercenary, he sighed and put the brush away. When he would have mounted Rannel shook his head for him to stop.

"Dherick this is Gerril, he's been traveling with me and he pledged himself to help" he said.

"What do you mean, you haven't even talked to him yet" he asked, confused.

"I have a confession to make, I was hunting these particular bandits myself already" Rannel said.

The merchant looked outraged "And you let me hire you" he sputtered.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time" he said.

"Why, did someone else hire you too and you saw a way to get some extra money" he asked.

"No, I don't really care about the money. They killed my family, but you have information I need and because this is a signed guild contract if I fail and get killed they will notify the rest of my family, it's in the contract" he said quietly.

"Oh" the merchant said.

That evening they met in the merchants room to make their plans. This close to Timmersdale, Rannel couldn't be sure that any of the bandits weren't here. He wasn't taking any chances.

After getting his fill of the lay of the land and the number of bandits he had to deal with he was about to say something when the merchant added "One of them has noble blood. He's bragged about it".

"It won't save his head" Rannel murmured.

"But if the likes of us take him down, won't we get into trouble with the powers that be" Dherick t asked a worried frown on his face.

"I have noble blood as well. I'm actually a second son" Rannel said absently.

"Oh, that'll help" Dherick smiled.

"I need you to tell the other's you couldn't hire anyone when you get back to the town" Rannel said seriously.

"But why" Dherick asked.

"They almost certainly have a spy in your town and I don't want them to get any more warning than they already have" he said.

"If we ever find anyone working with them, they'd get the same as the bandits" Dherick said grimly.

"I'll do my best to find out, but stopping them is the first priority" Rannel said.

"I understand" Dherick said.

The next morning They left, traveling at the merchants pace, soon they would leave the road and take off on their own path. Rannel's packhorse was loaded with the oddest things. Gerril had just shaken his head at some of the things he had bought, but he didn't say anything. He had found Rannel to be a crafty man, who was always thinking ahead and planning. He wouldn't have wanted to be his adversary and he almost pitied the bandits, well almost he thought to himself.


	7. Chapter 7 And You Never go Back

Chapter 7 And you Never go Back

And when

The Rider's ending

His quest for

Justice true

He finds it never ending

This search for Haven's truth......

It was a hard three days of riding cross country for the two men. Rannel didn't want to risk the roads this close to Timmersdale. He was tired, he just wanted this done, he missed his family and the anguish was still as strong now as it had been when he first found them. The mornings were the hardest, every time he awoke, for a moment he didn't remember, then then he would realize where he was and everything would come crashing back.

Now they were in the area he had been told the bandits were living, there was an abandoned town about half a days ride from where they were. They wouldn't have any men watching from this direction, there was no trade road or towns here, just scattered woods and rocky meadows, not the kind anyone would consider farming. They were alone.

"Gerril" he said.

"Yes" Gerril said looking over at Rannel.

"This is where we'll camp" he said pointing at the nearest stand of trees.

"Why here" Gerril asked.

"We're far enough away they won't find our camp and close enough that we can do what we need to do easily" he said.

They started the routine they had worked out on the way here, only this time Rannel gathered larger stones to make a more permanent fire pit. He picked a spot among the trees where they could set up some crude walls to hide the firelight at night. For himself he wouldn't have bothered, but it wasn't fair to Gerril to go without the comfort of fire at night.

"So what do you have planned" Gerril asked after the camp was almost finished.

Rannel looked up from the bags he had unloaded from his pack horse "I'm just one man, I won't be able to confront them directly, so I intend to pick them off a few at a time. If I'm careful they won't even realize that someone is after them at first". He looked down at his bags again for a moment before adding "I want to take them to justice if I can, death would be too quick for them".

He was quiet for a time pulling out smaller bags and setting them in small groups together as he sorted them.

"Whats that" Gerril asked, pointing at the thin rope and hardware Rannel had pulled out of one of the bags.

"It's going to be a trap" Rannel said absently, he looked up to see Gerril's surprise. "Not very heroic, huh" he said as he measured the lengths of rope.

Gerril shook his head "I'm not sure you can do anything else. They would kill you quickly if you just rode in".

"Well, before I actually set any traps I'll have to scout their place. I need to know how many there are" he said.

"You're not just going after the ones who killed your family" Gerril asked.

"I can't I gave my bond to Dherick, I have to take all of the men, if I can find which of them actually killed my family, those would go back to my father for justice. The rest would go to the townsfolk they had been preying on. He said, putting the components of the first trap into a small bag.

The next morning he told Gerril to watch the camp and rode into the direction of the bandit's town. Once fairly close he tethered his horse and made his way on foot. On a hill over the town he pulled out an item he had picked up at the horse fair, it was a long distance glass. He had originally meant for his son to have it. Now it was something he could use to watch his quarry.

For the rest of the day he watched trying to get a feel of their routine. He counted about fifteen men, more than he had been expecting, but he had the feeling there were more he hadn't seen yet, he decided to wait another day before starting with the traps.

For most of the next day nothing much happened, then when he was getting to the point of leaving for his temporary camp another group of three men joined the others. He couldn't get a close look at them at first because the men mobbed them, milling about. They passed full bags to their friends and even from where he watched he could hear the faint shouts that drifted up from the town.

He frowned, something sounded familiar. One of the voices, he was sure he had heard it before. Then he caught sight of the three newly arrived men. Cold shock froze him in place, he almost dropped the viewer as he started to shake.

His brother Merrol. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. His own brother, then the sickening thought came to him, he knew then why a band of men based so far from his home would come and only attack his home and no other. It was almost a joke in his family that he had his money hidden somewhere on his land. If they only knew. Gedrun must not have told them about the secret chamber, though Merrol knew about Gedrun's penchant for building hidden chambers, and guessed it was for storing money. He shook his head feeling sick, if only. He wished he could go back and tell his father about keeping up his membership with the guild, if he had his family would probably still be alive.

The cold settled into his heart, he felt hollow, now it didn't matter if it was his little brother down there he had chosen his fate.

The next morning Rannel started setting his traps, he had watched to see which trails they were apt to take and started on three. The first traps were set to look natural, hopefully they wouldn't realize it was anything but bad luck.

Then he rode back to his base camp to check in with Gerril and pick up some more supplies.

"Where's Yorick" Merrol asked the scouts as they came in.

"Dead, some rocks came down a hill and got him" the man said, walking to the pot of stew they kept going for the scouts.

"That's the third one this week" he shook his head in disgust.

"Ever since we struck yer brother's place tis been bad luck" one of the men grumbled.

Merrol frowned "You weren't supposed to kill them, common blood or not, the boy was still my nephew".

"What bout the man that took the others" a voice came from one of the old buildings of the town.

"My father probably sent him, I'm sure you lost him at the caravan" he said.

"Probably, I didn't see him on my trail" the man from the building added.

"I doubt father would try hard, perhaps for the boy" he frowned at the men. "Not for Graella though, he never thought she was good enough".

"What's wrong with her blood, my folks come from the same parts as she did" the outrider at the stew pot asked.

"Nothing really, but my brother was second son and as such could possibly have inherited if anything had happened to Joran, father wanted to leave open the possibility of an alliance with the neighbors" he said kicking at a stone.

He had always felt that he should have been born eldest, as youngest son there was no future for him at his father's holdings. And Rannel had gotten the land he had been hoping for when he married the bard. He shook his head, everything had always come easy for Rannel, sometimes he could almost hate him for it, but Rannel had taken him under his wing as a child and he still felt a bit of the hero worship he had felt then. He did regret Graella and the boy's death and hoped Rannel never learned of his part in it.

She should have told us what we wanted to know, he still didn't understand why she hadn't, if she had they would be alive now he thought with disgust.

He walked into the building nose wrinkling in disgust at the state his men had left the building in. They would have to bring in some girls from that village, Timmersdale I think it is he thought, they would clean the place up. At least as long as they lasted.

Rannel put the distance viewer down as his brother disappeared into the building. He looked into the distance, planning his next move a cold expression on his face.

Over the next week he picked off five more men, at least one of which he had captured, that one was with Gerril, keeping him company and waiting his fate. Ten men left to go, it appeared that his brother was their leader and he knew that he would probably be dealing with him last. He didn't want to be seen, if his brother realized it was him stalking them he would know their true danger and it would be that much harder for Rannel.

On his way back to Gerril he checked a couple of the traps, now that the men had realized that there was a person after them, he had stopped hiding the nature of the traps. Once sprung it was obvious that they were deliberate. Once he had crept into the edge of their town at night and got their sentry, he left the man with his throat slit and watched from safety as they found the man the next morning, let them deal with the dead he thought coldly.

He heard some movement ahead, silently circling he came from the high ground and looked down upon the creek he had trapped. The man looked up at the faint rustle of leaves.

"Help me, my legs caught under these logs" he said faintly thinking Rannel was one of his friends. Tears of pain ran down his face. His eyes widened in horror as he caught sight of Rannel "you're him" he said hoarsely.

Rannel nodded.

"Why, why are you killing us" he asked in despair.

"You've killed my family" Rannel said focusing on the trapped man.

"You're his brother" he almost whispered.

"Yes" a cold look passed over his face as he tried to decide whether the man was worth carrying to camp.

"He talks about you" the man's voice penetrated his thoughts.

"What"?

"He talks about you all the time" the man said weakly.

"Then why did he set you on my family" he asked.

"For the money you've got stockpiled, never did find it" he said.

"There was no money" Rannel said, pulling the first of the logs from the man's legs.

He walked leading his horse with the bandit tied to the saddle. It took longer but he did make camp before dark.

"How many more" Gerril asked as they walked into camp.

"Nine" he said wearily.

"What will you do then" Gerril asked him.

"If they live, take them in for justice" he said pulling the injured man down from his horse.

"No, I mean after when this is done".

"I don't know, I'll think about it then".

Merrol frowned at his men "You can't leave, we need to keep together".

"Why so he can pick us off" the man asked.

"He'll pick you off anyway if you leave by yourself" he pointed out.

"He doesn't want me, I just joined ye a couple weeks ago" the man said.

"You don't know that I bet those villagers in Timmersdale hired him" Merrol said.

"Naw Fen said they couldn't find no one" another of the men said.

"Then who is this man" Merrol mused.

The next day Rannel watched from his vantage point as two of the men left, heading in the direction of the trade road. Good he thought, the trail they picked was blocked, they would be herded into one of his traps, seven left after these two were taken care of.

Later that day he joined Gerril in camp yet another man to add to his collection, just six more to go.

Merrol sat at the old table brooding three more gone, the first two left on their own but the third had gone out on watch and disappeared. Now they were at the point that he didn't dare send any of his men from the town, there were so few left.

All the next day Rannel waited but no one left the town. Time for phase two he thought to himself and pulled out his bow and looked through his quiver for his best arrows.

A scream woke Merrol from his nap. He stumbled out of bed as one of his men stumbled in and collapsed an arrow breaking off in his chest. He called for his other men, he needed to know if anyone else had been hit only two voices called back. A cold wave of fear ran through Merrol. Trapped, they were trapped and now there weren't enough to stop whoever was hunting them.

Three, he got three of them, now was the time to ride into town before they recovered from this latest attack, he was weary it was time to end this.

Merrol watched from the doorway as the dark rider entered the main street of town, he frowned something was familiar, then a cry and one of his man ran screaming his sword raised to strike the stranger. A flurry of motion and the man choked and fell a dagger in his throat. Merrol stepped out he had the feeling he was doomed.

Rannel watched as his brother stepped out from the dark doorway and came to stand in the middle of the road.

"What do you want of us" he said.

Rannel dismounted and pulled his helmet off and stood staring at his brother with cold and empty eyes.

Merrol turned white, it was Rannel and he knew. "I'm sorry" he said.

Rannel nodded "It doesn't matter" he put his helmet back on and pulled out his sword stalking silently towards his brother.

Gods Merrol thought he had never seen Rannel like this, he backed up slowly.

Rannel cocked his head "Do you really want to face father's justice" he asked walking faster towards Merrol.

No Merrol thought to himself, his heart breaking he pulled out his own sword and walked towards his doom.

Jendry watched from the roof across the road as Merrol backed away from the man in dark leather and mail. He was shocked he had never seen Merrol back down from a fight.

The two men clashed, steel ringing as they made contact, he saw the fight flow as the two seemed evenly matched at first, then he noticed that the stranger was the better fighter and there seemed to be something of the berserker about him as if he didn't care what happened to him as long as he took his opponent out. It was unnerving to watch. Finally Merrol faltered and the strangers sword broke through his guard and into his side. Jendry winced, the wound looked fatal. The stranger stepped back and watched as Merrol dropped his sword and clutched his side, falling to his knees.

"Rannel" Merrol said weakly.

Rannel just looked at him dully, still not quite believing the brother he had almost raised himself was dying at his own hand.

"Rannel, I just want you to know I'm sorry, if she had just told us right away where the money was, they both would still be alive" he said his voice getting weaker as his strength fled with his life's blood down his side.

"There was no money there" Rannel said flatly.

"What" Merrol started to laugh then fell to coughing, blood coming to his lips.

"What a waste" he said his eyes dulling in death.

At the sound of the last man scrambling down from the roof Rannel whirled his sword up and ready.

"Don't, I'm surrendering" Jendry said his hands up and open all weapons left behind. He knew there was only death in fighting the stranger.

After making the last bandit dig his brother's grave he tied his hands and made his way back to Gerril and the base camp.

Sometime later Rannel stood looking out at the fields from the stable door.

"When will you take over the farm again" Gedrun asked.

He turned at his brother's voice "I don't think I can, I still see them" he said softly pointing towards the house he hadn't set foot in even after being back for two weeks. He closed his eyes then looked at his brother again "Could you stay here".

"Yes, but it's yours" Gedrun said.

Rannel shook his head "I can't stay here now, there's no reason now that they're gone" he said a defeated tone to his voice.

"This will always be yours, I'm just holding it for you" his brother said fiercely.

"Thanks" said Rannel then mounted his horse and left without looking behind him once.

Gedrun sighed and turned back to the house.

**I do intend to eventually write some more stories with some of these characters **


End file.
